The KB07 building in Kastel has been used by the community for around 15 years. In the summer of 2022, it was suddenly to be sold. Thanks to many supporters, we were able to buy it, remove it from the speculative real estate market and thus ensure that it retains its history as a communally inhabited house and stays that way.

On three floors and a backyard, seven residents and a cat share their everyday lives and all the things they are passionate about.

KB07 is the first tenement syndicate project in Wiesbaden/Mainz. By networking with other groups, we want to make a contribution to countering the capitalist housing market with an alternative!

Project type: Tenement syndicate project

Project form/legal form: GmbH/association

Dates:
2022 Foundation
2024 Admission to the rental housing syndicate

Project size: 189m² living space, seven residents

As of September 5, 2024

Blüchi GmbH - House association KB07

E-Mail: kb07wohnprojektriseupne

At the beginning of the 1990s, three families from Mainz had the idea of building a residential courtyard together. Eight single-family terraced houses were built, arranged in a square around a kind of forum/atrium. Upon entering the complex, you enter a covered inner courtyard with green plants, sofa corners and a long table, inviting you to enjoy communal activities. There are communal rooms on the first floor and second floor and a communal garden outside. In addition, each house has its own terrace with a small garden to provide a personal retreat.

Guided by the aim of building and living ecologically and sustainably, heating is provided by natural gas, electricity is produced via a photovoltaic system and hot water is obtained via solar panels. There is also a rainwater harvesting system for flushing toilets and watering the garden.

In the resulting neighborhood, where friendships have also developed, everyone helps where they can. Once a month, everyone meets to discuss what will be worked on the following Saturday, who will prepare the work and who will be responsible for the communal lunch. Tools, crockery and machines purchased jointly are available for this purpose.

The community is now in its 22nd year and to date no one has regretted their participation in this life project.

Project type: "Blue House" socio-ecological housing project. 22 people aged between 16 and 60.

Project form/legal form: House community with 4 rented and 7 owner-occupied flats/self-managed homeowners' association (WEG)

Dates:
1993 Founded
1994 Year of construction
1995 Move in

Project size: 2,700m² plot with 11 apartments in 8 houses, size of the houses 150-160m²

Communal areas: inner courtyard, group rooms (guest room/meeting room), wood workshop, laundry room, garden, guest WC

Status: Completed

Ralph Müller
Ratsherrenweg 10
55252 Mainz-Kastel

Phone: 06134 65510
E-Mail: mueller.kastelgmxde

The cooperative Gemeinschaftlich Wohnen was founded in 2003 with the aim of making housing less anonymous, less isolated and less controlled by others. The aim was to create an intergenerational, ecological, socially and culturally mixed community. Reliable structures of cooperation between different people who take social responsibility for each other were to be established. This residential idea was realized with the purchase of the property at Blücherstrasse 17, which was acquired by the city of Wiesbaden in 2005.

It is a building complex consisting of a front, middle and rear building located in Wiesbaden's Westend district. The building is part of a high-density, inner-city quarter of old buildings from the Wilhelminian era (built in 1905) and has a floor area of approx. 960 m².

Twelve apartments were extensively renovated in 2006, so that almost all apartments now have a balcony, among other things, and nine apartments are partially barrier-free. In addition, the quality of living has been enhanced by greening the roof and façade. The modernizations and five rental apartments were subsidized with public funds.

Most of the functional rooms on the first floor are used primarily as communal areas in order to implement the basic idea of communal living. A project meeting is held approximately every two weeks, at which questions about the project, planning, implementation of the conversion and refurbishment are central topics. In addition, two inner courtyards and the roof terrace with their greenery and plants invite people to linger together.

Project type: Intergenerational, ecological, socially and culturally mixed residential project

Project/legal form: House community in a registered cooperative

Milestones:
2003 Founded
2007 Move in

Project size:

Floor area 960 m² with 22 apartments of 44-103 m² each,
44 people aged from 0 to 85 years

Communal rooms/area: multifunctional communal room, meeting room and lounge, bicycle storage room and cellar, children's playroom, play area in the courtyard, workshop, fabric craft and sewing room, communal laundry room, inner courtyards, roof terrace

Gemeinschaftlich Wohnen e.G.
Board of Directors Udo Schläfer
Blücherstrasse 17
65195 Wiesbaden

Phone: 0611 4620730
E-mail: infobluecher17de
E-Mail: infogemeinschaftlich-wohnende

We bought the middle and rear buildings at Eltviller Strasse 16 in 2001. The houses were completely renovated and some of them were extended, creating new living space which we were able to move into in 2002. There are now several apartments in total, which we live in as a house community.

We are eleven adults with eight children and have lived together continuously in this form since we moved into our apartments. We are a group of friends who were looking for a suitable property several years before we bought Eltviller Strasse 16 a and b. Shared ownership seemed to us to be the right way to live together in the long term and implement various ideas.

In the meantime, almost all the children have grown up and moved out. We meet regularly to discuss and decide our concerns. We have private meetings with each other. We have unsealed our courtyard, planted greenery and installed a medium-sized photovoltaic system on one of our rooftops in 2021. During the renovation phase, we received earmarked financial support from the City of Wiesbaden.

Milestones:
2001 House purchase
2002 Move in

Project size:

11 adults and 8 children

The Horizonte housing project aims to support people from the third stage of life in leading an independent and self-determined life. This is to be made possible with the help of age-appropriate rental apartments and mutual assistance between the individual members. Each member can contribute to an active and lively community by using his/her individually acquired skills and competencies as well as his/her own ideas. Everyone determines their own level of commitment. The group also wants to support the district and do something for the neighborhood.

The shared flat has rooms that can be used for communal activities. Various activities are planned, such as communal dinners or Sunday breakfasts and games evenings. There will also be monthly meetings and a cozy corner to strengthen the group identity. These communal rooms will also be available to external parties for socio-cultural events.

Project type: Lively and active residential community for people from the 3rd stage of life with up to 14 people (senior citizens)

Project form/legal form: Project and house community in rented GWW flats/non-profit association

Dates:
2013 Foundation of the group
2016 Start of construction
2018 1st half of the year Move in

Project size: 14 residential units with 45-85m²

Common rooms: A large, divisible group room where public events aimed at the neighborhood also take place

Status: Completed

Heidi Diemer
E-Mail: heidi.diemerfreenetde

We are an association of people who are interested in communal living.
interested in communal living. We envision intergenerational living together in a socially
with social responsibility and sustainability. Our life
as a group should be characterized by mutual respect, sharing instead of owning, a sense of responsibility and mutual support.

The members of the GliK e.V. association live in three buildings on the Wiesbadener Straße 78-80 site, consisting of

former barracks and "Tetrishaus" of GWW
SEG residential tower (completion mid-2023)

Project type: Intergenerational project with ? people in ? apartments

Project form/ legal form: Project and house community in rental apartments of GWW / association

Dates:
2019 Foundation
2022 Move in

Status: Completed

E-mail: vorstandglik-vereinde

In 2011, a core group of two architects began preliminary planning for a shared housing project on a plot of land with demolished existing buildings in the Bergkirchen district. Having been granted an option for more in-depth preliminary planning and to review the chances of realization according to the housing needs, the group applied to purchase the plot in competition with other bidders with a detailed presentation of the intended housing concept.

The building application planning started with the land purchase contract. After two years of construction, with a few surprises, e.g. a complex foundation and increased costs, the withdrawal of a project partner, the communal residential building was completed and occupied in July 2016.

Common rooms are rented in the neighboring mountain church as needed. Once a month, all residents take turns cooking. Several residents are involved in voluntary/charitable projects in the neighborhood or in Wiesbaden.

Project type: Housing project with new construction of an apartment building with 6 residential units, residents: 10 people aged 0 to 79 years

Project form/legal form: House community with 6 condominiums, including 2 rental apartments; homeowners' association (WEG)

Dates:
2011 Foundation
2014 Start of construction
2016 July Occupancy

Project size: 320 m² plot, 6 apartments ranging in size from 60-122 m²

Communal areas: communal garden, laundry room, workshop

Status: Completed

Architect Hardmuth Sonntag
Steingasse 18
65183 Wiesbaden

Phone: 0611 5280730
E-Mail: architekt.sonntaggmxde

Project type: owner-occupied residential project, refurbishment, 9 residential units, 4 couples around 60 years old

Project/legal form: House community with 9 flats, self-managed homeowners' association (WEG)

Foundation:
2009 Foundation of the group
2011 Property inspection, negotiation
2012 Financing, knockdown, notary, refurbishment
2014 Move in

Project size:
Plot size: 737 m², in Wiesbaden-Mitte with farmstead (built in 1878): Front and rear building, barn, garages, courtyard, garden, vaulted cellar
Construction costs: approx. 1,250 euros/m² (excluding land and ancillary costs, excluding private expenses)
Old stock: 11 units, 40-80 m², living area 660 m²
New stock: 9 units, 30-150 m², living area 850 m²

Communal areas: garden, terrace, courtyard areas, cooking and dining area, library, sauna and sports area, guest room, garages, workshop, vaulted cellar, office

For many years, the idea has repeatedly crossed the minds of the four befriended couples and has been discussed at social gatherings: What would it be like to "team up" with friends in old age to live together?

In 2009, the time had finally come: A small-talk topic became a serious topic of conversation. And then everything happened unexpectedly quickly. During two "working weekends" outside Wiesbaden, the general conditions and the seriousness of the joint project were clarified and the search for a plot of land began.

The group found what they were looking for with a community of heirs in Wiesbaden-Mitte. Although the group was not the only interested buyer, the idea, the concept and the group itself tipped the scales: the group was awarded the contract for the group of buildings dating back to 1878, including a courtyard consisting of a four-storey front building, a courtyard with outbuildings, a rear building with an attached barn and a garden.

Between 2012 and the beginning of 2014, the house was renovated, converted and occupied by all the couples with the involvement of the heritage authority. The project was organized as a GbR during the purchase/construction period; the GbR was therefore the building owner. Now it is a WEG; the existing GbR still holds the communal units, the apartments of the four couples are each owned by them.

In addition, the following topics were covered by the group members themselves: Law, architecture, energy consulting, real estate, economics, landscape architecture, construction company.
Community aspects
The spacious communal areas (205 m² in total, including 130 m² communal room, 75 m² guest apartment) are not only used by the four couples, but also by their families and friends for celebrations and meetings. Regular monthly meetings ensure that the "business" concerns of the group can be discussed. A monthly communal cooking event also serves to promote socializing and exchange. In addition, there are always opportunities for other joint activities (motorcycle rides, visits to festivals, joint walks, wine tastings, barbecues, "spontaneous" joint dinners in the courtyard or garden, "coffee klatches", working weekends, etc.).

GbR A 57 | Auf der Höhe 57
Reinhardt Breier
Adlerstrasse 57
65183 Wiesbaden

E-Mail: gbraufderhoehe57gmailcom

Architect
Dipl.-Ing./Architect
Sonja Heyn-Eichenlaub
E-Mail: architektin.heyneichenlaubgmailcom

Law & Economy
Ass. Lawyer & Real Estate Economist (GdW)
Reinhardt Breier
E-Mail: rechtsanwalt.breiergmailcom